WCS asks for halt to nuke waste review

Company faces antitrust suit over pending merger with EnergySolutions

From staff reports

Published 6:10 pm, Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Photo: Waste Control Specialists

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FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2009, photo provided by Waste Control Specialists, canisters filled with uranium byproduct waste are placed into a burial pit at at Waste Control Specialists near Andrews, Texas. People living nearest to the site would be barred from challenging license amendments sought by the company operating the facility under a Senate bill that could be voted on as early as Wednesday, April 17, 2013. The bill also encourages compact members Texas and Vermont to send their low-level waste elsewhere and seeks to prohibit public hearings or comment on some amendments to the company's license. (AP Photo/Waste Control Specialists, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2009, photo provided by Waste Control Specialists, canisters filled with uranium byproduct waste are placed into a burial pit at at Waste Control Specialists near Andrews, Texas. People

Waste Control Specialists has requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission temporarily suspend its review of its license application for a high-level nuclear waste storage facility in Andrews County.

WCS wants the suspension until the completion of its sale to EnergySolutions, a Salt Lake City-based nuclear waste disposal firm, according to a press release received late Tuesday. WCS said it expects the deal to be finalized this summer; however, it faces an antitrust lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice. The trial is set for April 24.

The sale of WCS has been pending since November 2015, according to a WCS spokesperson.

WCS is looking to temporarily store high-level nuclear waste from decommissioned nuclear power plants at its already-existing low-level radioactive waste storage facility in Andrews County. The process requires NRC approval, and the review process is underway. The cost of the review was one reason cited for WCS’ request for a temporary suspension.

“The NRC recently provided WCS an estimate of the cost of the application review of $7.5 million, which is significantly higher than we originally estimated,” a letter to the NRC stated.

The letter also cited costs associated with the public participation process, a potential adjudicatory hearing before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board as other reasons, along with a cost-sharing agreement with one of its partners being depleted. Its partners are TN Americas and NAC International, according to the press release. It was not clear which partner was referred to in the letter.

WCS requested in its letter to the NRC that the agency approve an extension period commencing on the date of the letter — April 18, 2017 — until the completion of the sale of WCS to EnergySolutions.

Midland County commissioners have fielded comments from the public in recent months about concerns that nuclear waste would be transported by rail through Midland County. County Judge Mike Bradford said the court doesn’t have authority over county railways for the proposed federal project but has the ability to express opinions of the community, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram report.

San Antonio and Bexar County have passed resolutions objecting to the shipments of nuclear waste by rail through its jurisdictions, according to previous San Antonio Express-News reports.